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About Us

Leading consulting institute for research, analysis,Evaluation and rating of franchise business.

Franchise Research & Strategy Institute Inc.

Akihiko Uchikawa Style Franchise Consulting

Gained from hands-on experiences for over 46 years.

Management Principle
We would like to popularize and promote authentic franchise business to small and medium
sized retail, food service and service industry enterprises and aim at improving and developing
their management in accordance with our corporate principle and philosophy.
All of the people who sympathize our mission and objectives shall gather and take part in ouractivities an form their network taking advantage of connection economy. We wish to turn trade
into a science and contribute to society.

Brief history of Akihiko Uchikawa, President and CEO of FRSI 16 years of field experience at the Franchise Business Joined the Seibu Department Stores Co., Ltd. Temporally transferred to Dunkin’ Doughnuts Japan,
held post of Store Manager at the first outlet in Japan, Supervisor and Area Manager.
 Joined Lawson Inc. which is the 2nd largest CVS chain in Japan, held post of General Manager ofCommodity Division, General Planning Division, Operating Division, Development Division, PR &Sales Promotion Division. Chief Administrator of newly introduced CI and held various posts
successively.

 Consulting business for 30 years
 Established Franchise Research Strategy Institute, Inc. and took presidency of the FRSI for 20 years.
Prior to stablishing FRSI engaged in consulting for 12 years.
Engaged in consulting for 30 years in total and undertook consulting of more than 300 corporations.

 Consultation with the 7-Eleven Taiwan for 8 years
 Improved the infrastructure of Franchise HQ and built up the foundation for rapid expansion of thechain, starting from 500 outlets and reached 3,000 during the contract period.

 Executive officer of the Japan Franchise Association
 Held post of the serice manager assisting the association members for 10 years and of the Counselor at
the Franchise Counselling Center for 17 years. (In service) Certified instructor of METI’s Trade and Investment Promotion Business and amember of the policy dialogue Deliver lecture for managerial officials of national and local governments in emerging countries ofsouth-eastern Asia, in charge of distribution policy, specialists, distributors, industrial groups,
top-level executives of related industries on the Japanese distribution industry, especially covering thestructure, current situation and issues of Franchise business.

 Sole partner in Japan with worldwide research companies in relation to theFranchise business (In service) Gerson Lehman Group of New York
 Third Bridge (former Cogno Link) of London
 Guide Point Global of New York Board member of a listed company for twelve years
 Appointed as a director for eight years and as a full-time auditor for four years.

 Recent Representative Lectures
October, 2017

Scheduled to conduct a 5-day education and training program for government officials andexecutive businessmen in Myanmar (for the second year in a row).

June, 2017

Deliver lecture to government officials and FC industry participants in Hungary, Romania andUkraine, at the request of JETRO.

June, 2017

Deliver lecture to government officials and FC industry participants in Brazil and Chile, atthe request of JETRO.

March, 2017

Deliver lecture to government officials and FC industry participants in Mexico and Cuba, at
the request of JETRO.

February, 2017 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for the Myanmar’s food service
industry, organized by METI.
January, 2017 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for Myanmar’s distributors,organized by METI.
December, 2016 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for Vietnamese distributors,organized by METI.
November, 2016 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for Indonesian distributors,organized by METI.
November, 2016 Conduct 5-day education and training program for government officials and executive
businessmen in Myanmar.
October, 2016

Deliver lecture at Care-Medical Industry Exhibition & Conference 2016.

September, 2016 Deliver lecture to government officials and FC industry participants in Poland and Czech
Republic, at the request of JETRO.
June, 2016

Deliver lecture to government officials and FC industry participants in Brazil and Chile, atthe request of JETRO.

March, 2016

Deliver keynote lecture at Japan Int’l Franchise Show 2016 organized by Nikkei, Inc.

February, 2016 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for the Myanmar’s food service
industry, organized by METI.
January, 2016 Deliver lecture at the seminar on the subject of training course for Myanmar’s distributors,organized by METI.

Many other lectures at Local government, Chamber of Commerce and Industry,Franchise Headquarters and various organizations.

Extraordinary strong points of Akihiko Uchikawa
1. As a leading expert of the Franchise Industries, gain hands-on experiences for over 46 years.
Undertake consultation with over 300 Franchise corporations.
Build up over 150 Franchise Headquarters.
2. Counselor in charge of the Franchise Counselling Center in the Japan Franchise Association andthe number of consultation exceeds 3,000 cases.
Familiar with real situation of the established Franchise HQ of JFC association member.
Knowledgeable about conflicts between Franchise HQ and member stores, and also know
everything about problems and issues of Franchise HQ.
3. More knowledgeable than lawyers about Franchise laws and regulations.
Support drafting the trouble-free Franchise agreement.
A formulator drafting the revision of Small and Medium-sized Retail Business Promotion Act of2002. Review every Franchise Agreement executed by the associate members of the Japan
Franchise Association.
4. Able to assist to develop authentic Business Model and Franchise Package.
Profound experience gained from proven consultation for wide variety of business types andbusiness models including the Retail industry, the Food service industry and the Service industry.
5. Only in-house franchise specialists engage in consulting services with no subcontractors
involved.
Franchise specialists including former employees of the Japan Franchise Association will develop
a tailor-made Franchise Package which will fulfill expectations of every client.
6. Extensive consulting experiences in overseas markets and strong networks established.
The number of business trips to the USA, home of the Franchise, reached more than 50 creatinghuman networks. Also established strong human networks in emerging countries in Asia andcontinuously promoting Franchise business relationships.
7. Thorough knowledge about the employee franchise system.
Build up the employee independence system at many companies.
While served in Lawson Inc., Mr. Uchikawa worked out and launched the Franchise owner
outsourcing system which is the first case of the CVS industries.
He also built the employee franchise system at the well-known beauty shop chain and expanded
outlets from 17 shops to 200 in 8 years.
8. Good track record to develop and build a new business model in a major convenience storecompany.

Site location evaluation system
Mr. Uchikawa made the final decision for developing more than 1,000 outlets at Lawson Inc. as a
general manager of the store development division based on the know-how to evaluate, analyze andselect a right site and premises.
Merchandizing system
Develop the world’s first parachute wrapping for a rice ball. Manufacture and sale of the Rock ice.
Develop a purchase channel of books and a utility bill payment system. Many other track records.
Logistics system
Create the basis of the logistics system for CVS including delivery in small quantity and in separate
temperature zones.
Supervising system
Create a supervisor system to give continuous guidance and advice to franchisees.
Education and training system
Mr. Uchikawa has been serving as an instructor for 18 years since the opening the supervisor schoolin the Japan Franchise Association, the concept of which is totally different from that of an ordinary
employee training system. The school emphasizes human education in order to realize dreams andhopes through daily work.
Management Information system
While served in Lawson Inc., Mr. Uchikawa was responsible for developing a CVS information
system. Mr. Uchikawa guided and supervised Casio Computer Co., Ltd. to develop the New POS
system. He also engaged in developing information systems of many types of business.

1Consultation for designing and restructuring of Franchise Headquarters
FRSI can provide a wide variety of consulting services in building up Franchise Business. FRSI
will assist you in designing a business category of a standard business model, organizing Franchise
Headquters and recruiting Franchisees.
1. Assess a potential of your franchise chain.
2. Support developing a business package for a prototype shop.
3. Support designing and creating a franchise package for the headquarters.
4. Support designing and creating a franchise system.
5. Support formulating a business plan for the headquarters.
6. Support education and training of HQ staff.
7. Support creating a marketing plan for recruiting Franchisees.

2Consultation for Employee franchise system or In-house franchise system
Rewarding such a long-service employee as is promoted from a shop boy to an assistant manager
and a general manager, a merchant family of olden days in Japan used to have an employeeindependence system, or a system of transferring goodwill to its employees.
FRSI modernizes and uniquely redesigns it to the employee franchise system. If you wish to activate
your outlets, prevent staff from leaving, or improve financial standing, we can offer the employee
franchise system as the most effective measure to galvanize your chain operation.
1. Design entire process of the employee franchise system.
2. Create the new personnel system.
3. Create the new training and education system = Presidential academy.
4. Criteria of selecting target business category and target outlets.
5. Simulate a profit and loss statement of the store.
6. Formulate selecting criteria or qualification of employees for independence system.
7. Formulate a business plan for the employee franchise system.
8. Formulate procedures for introducing the employee franchise system and launch the system.

3Consultation for education and training
FRSI would provide tailor-made training and seminar programs to meet the needs or requests ofindividual companies, and those programs could be modified according to the hierarchy level of thecompany separately for management executives, recruiters, merchandisers, supervisors, store
managers and part-time workers.
1. Hold seminars to broker and mediate overseas franchise hedquarters.
2. Organise and conduct seminars for studying overseas markets.
3. Organise and conduct various types of seminars in Japan.
4. Conduct education and training program for management executives.
5. Conduct education and training program for supervisors.
6. Conduct education and training program for store managers.
7. Conduct education and training program for franchise owners.
8. Conduct education and training program for various hierarchy of employees.

Corporate Profile of Franchise Research & Strategy Institute, Inc.
Location

7F Mitsuhama Bldg., 1-2 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 160-0004, Japan
Phone: 03-3561-7122 (Main phone number)
Fax: 03-5361-7124
e-mailinfo@the-franchise.co.jp

CEO & President Mr. Akihiko Uchikawa
Established

December, 1998

Capital45,000,000 yen

Corporate

November, 1997 Founded

history

December, 1998

Established as a corporation

June, 2001 Company name changed to the present one

Free

consultingforFranchise!!

FRSI’s consultants specialized in the franchisebusiness will answer to any queries about Franchiseabsolutely free of charge.

Guide for Seminar
FRSI regularly organize various seminars
for any persons who wish to develop
franchise business.
In detail, please refer to the following website.
www.the-franchise.co.jp

Author of Uchikawa AkihikoGrowing HQ, Profitable Franchisees

Real story of The Franchise Business7th Edition !!

Publisher: Nikkei Inc.
Guide for site selection and Practice of Merchandizing

Marketing Strategy of CVS, Single store and Local chain
Publisher: Business-sha Co., Ltd.

4th Edition !

Main consulting service record
Assist to organize, rebuild and operate Franchise headquarters
Retail Industry
Convenience StoreRetailer of work wear
Retailer of jewelry
Retailer of healthy food
Retailer of home custom build house
Retailer info-service of used carPharmacy
Drug stores
Hundred yen store
Retailer of rice and veggie from the farm
Retailer of home made rice ball
Process and sales of lunch box and daily dishBicycle shop
Service Industry
Cleaners
Household cleaning contractor
Beauty shop
Barber’s shop
Family hair saloon
Logistics and distribution system
Flower arrangement school
Stock Investment school
Pet owner school
Paint shop
Laundry delivery service
Bodywork saloon
Luxury brand hand bag shopAuto repair service
Small fitness center
Large scale fitness center
Osteopathic clinic
Coin operated parking
Houseplant rental shop
Luxury brand bag and shoe repair shop
Shoe repairer
English conversation school for kids

Private preparatory school
Music school
Japanese drum school
Transport Industry
Food Service Industry
Family Restaurant
Chinese Restaurant
Udon noodle shop
Genghis Khan shop
Ramen shop
Hot dog shop
Dipping noodle shop
Curry shop
Hamburger restaurant
Beer restaurant
Shabu Shabu restaurant
Sushi-go-around shop
Yakiniku shop
Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) shop
Izakaya shop (Japanese pub)Japanese cuisine restaurant

Contract organizations/Alliances[Domestic]
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Commerce and Information Policy Bureau
Consumer Affairs, Distribution and Retail Division
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Commerce and Information Policy Bureau Service Affairs Policy Division
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)Japan Franchise Association (JFA)
Nikkei, Inc[Overseas]
Gerson Lehman Group of New York
Guide Point Global of New York
Cogno Link of London